Bobbin holder



July 24, 1962 w. H. OBRIEN ETAL 3,045,946

BOBBIN HOLDER Filed Oct. 12, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS WILLIAM H. O'BRIEN BY THOMAS E. PITTS Maw ATTORNEY W. H. O'BRIEN ETAL BOBBIN OLDER Filed Oct 3 Sheets-s 2 ENTOR, WILLIAM H.0BRIEN BY THOMA PITTS ATTORNEY July 24, 1962 w. H. OBRIEN ETAL 3,045,946

BOBBIN HOLDER Filed Oct. 12, 1959 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TORS WILLIAM H. O'BRIEN I THOMAS E. PITTS ATTORNEY 3,045,946 BOBBIN HOLDER William H. OBrien, Greenwood, and Thomas E. Pitts, Cranston, 12.1., assignors to Leesona Corporation, Cranston, R.I., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 845,930 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-130) The present invention relates to a holder for an un- Winding bobbin of yarn and more particularly relates to such a bobbin holder adapted to control the balloon generated by the unwinding strand of yarn.

In the following specification and claims the term yarn is employed in a general sense to apply to all kinds of strand material, either textile or otherwise, and the designation package is intended to mean the product of a winding or twisting machine whatever its form.

When winding yarn at high speed from a bobbin it has been found that tension in the winding strand increases as stripping of the bobbin progresses. As the supply of yarn on the bobbin nears exhaustion tension increases to the point of causing the yarn to break or slough from the bobbin in a tangle which results in a break. Many attempts have been made to overcome the excessive tension and the losses resulting from incomplete stripping of the bobbin caused by high speed unwinding. However, none of the prior devices have been completely successful and none of them have been universal in their operation in that they permit high speed unwinding of filling wound, modified filling Wound or warp wound bobbins.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a holder for a bobbin which permits yarn wound thereon to be stripped at high speed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a holder for a bobbin which minimizes tension in a strand of yarn being stripped from said bobbin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a holder for a bobbin which prevents sloughing and breaking of a strand of yarn being stripped from said bobbin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tension controlling bobbin holder for use with variously wound bobbins.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bobbin holder for restricting the balloon developed thereabout during the unwinding cycle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bobbin holder which facilitates easy and rapid donning and dofling of bobbins therefrom.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The apparatus accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGi is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of the bobbin holder of the present invention having a bobbin in place thereon;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the bobbin holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 but showing the bobbin holder in the don or dofi position.

The bobbin holder of the present invention comprises a spindle blade having resilient means for holding a bobbin thereon, a tubular balloon restraining member closely enclosing a fully wound bobbin mounted on said blade,

fates atent and means for moving said blade longitudinally of said tube to facilitate donning and dofflng of bobbins.

Referring now to the drawings wherein is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the bobbin holder of the present invention spindle 10 comprises a blade 12 of hexagonal cross section which is pressed into an axial bore formed in shank 14 which is of circular cross section. The upper end of shank 14 forms shoulder 15 on spindle 10.

Six elongated, arcuate leaf springs 16 having coplanar straight upper and lower ends 16 and 16" respectively are held in place around blade 12 with the concave surfaces thereof towards said blade. The upper end 16 of each spring is in contact with a flat surface of blade 12 adjacent the upper end thereof, and the lower end 16" of each spring is in contact with the respective flat surface adjacent the lower end of said blade. Cap 18 is fixed to the upper end of blade 12. by means of screw 19 and depends over ends 16' to retain them in sliding engagement against blade 12. Frusto-conical member 20, having stepped axial bore 21 slidably engaged on blade 12', is positioned on shoulder 15 of spindle 10. The lower portion of bore 21 is substantially the same diameter as blade 12 and the upper portion of said bore is somewhat larger to thereby accommodate the lower ends 16" of springs 16 for slidable engagement therein.

Below shoulder 15 shank 14 is slidably mounted in a circular opening or bore 212 of bracket 24. Bracket 24 comprises member 26, plate 28 and base 30. Member 26 is rotatably mounted on shaft 32 which in turn is fixedly mounted on the frame of a winding machine or creel. Member 26 is bifurcated to form two horizontal arms 34. Two indentations 36 and 38 are formed in the side of member '26 opposite arms 34. Plate 28 is substantially square and is fixed to the plane upper surface of member 26 by means of screws 40 which pass through arms 34 and said plate and fasten into base 30. Base 30 is generally frusto-conical but having flats formed on the surface thereof.

Extending downwardly from shaft 32 and fixed thereto by screws '46 on opposite sides of and adjacent member 26 are a pair of flanges 44. The two flanges 44 are connected at their lower extremities by means of plate 48 welded thereto or machined integral therewith to form a fixed bracket. Plate 48 extends forwardly of flanges 44 and has an elongated slot 50 passing therethrough of Width slightly greater than the diameter of shank 14. The outer end of slot 50' is substantially aligned with bore 22 when plates 28 and '48 are parallel, and said slot extends inwardly between flanges 44 in a direction perpendicular to shaft 32. The upper edges of slot 50 curve upwardly as they extend inwardly and the surface 52 around said edges is flared and polished so that a spherical surface can mate therewith and slide smoothly therealong.

Shank 14 extends from bore 22 downwardly of bracket 24 and passes through slot 50. Intermediate bore 22 and slot 50 actuator 54 is fixed to shank 14 by means of set screw 56. Actuator 54 has a hemispherical lower surf-ace and a plane upper surface substantially perpendicular to shank 14. A compression spring '58 is coiled about shank 14 and retained between actuator 54 and plate 24, so as to seat said actuator on surface 52.

To the end of plate 48 opposite slot 50 is attached a leaf spring by means of screw 62 passing through an opening in the lower end of said spring and threadedly engaged in said plate. The upper end of spring 60 is provided with an inturned flange 64 extending toward shaft 32 and selectively engageable with indentation 36 or 38 depending upon the position of member 26 as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Bracket 24 mounts two generally inverted U-shaped clamp members 66 and 68 which are constructed of resilient wire. The ends of members 66 and 68 are fixed to the corners of plate 28 and operate to hold tube 70 in place.

Thin-walled cylindrical tube 70, preferably formed of transparent material is open at both ends and has an inside diameter larger than both the maximum diameter of member 20 and the minimum diameter of base 30, but smaller than the maximum diameter of base 30. Also the diameter of tube 70 should be only slightly larger than the diameter of the wound bobbin B to be held therein. Tube 70 fits down over blade 12, passing inwardly of clamps 66 and 68 to receive base 30 partially within the lower end of said tube.

The bobbin holder of the present invention operates in the following described manner. With the bobbin holder in the don position as shown in FIG. 4 and with tube 70 in place on said holder, a wound bobbin is pressed down over blade 12 flattening springs 16 toward said blade. When the base of the bobbin is set against member 20 and said member in turn bears against shoulder 15 the bobbin holder is shifted to the unwind position shown in FIG. 1 by grasping tube 70 and pushing towards the left as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4 to thereby apply a counterclockwise torque to bracket 24. Spring 60 and its end 64 cooperate with indentations 36 and 38 to selectively retain the bobbin holder in the unwinding or donn positions.

In the unwind position with a wound bobbin in place on blade 12, set screw 56 is loosened and spindle 10 ad justed axially of tube 7 until the upper end of said bobbin is even with the upper end of said tube. Now with actuator 54 bearing against surface 52 set screw 56 is tightened to lock said actuator in place on shank 14.

As the bobbin is unwound at high speed ballooning of the yarn is restricted by being confined within tube 76 and the bobbin can be completely stripped without breakage or sloughing of the yarn. If the bobbin is warp wound or combination wound the small balloon permitted by tube 70 sufiicient to allow smooth stripping.

When the bobbin is unwound the bobbin holder is shifted to the doff position by grasping tube 70- and pulling towards the right. As bracket 24 rotates with respect to plate 48, actuator 54 slides to the left, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4, along surface 52 and the distance between arm 34 and said surface '52 decreases. Decrease of this distance cams spindle 10 upwardly so as to cause the empty bobbin to protrude fromv said tube whereby it can be easily grasped and removed from the bobbin holder without removal of tube 70.

Other full bobbins having packages of the same size and shape as the first can now be successively donned, unwound and doffed in the manner just described but without need for any adjustment of spindle 10. If a package of diiferent diameter is to be unwound it is a simple matter to replace tube with another tube having the correct diameter. If a package of different length is to be unwound then the position of spindle 10 must be adjusted to the new length.

Since certain changes may be made in the above apparatus without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all new matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for holding an unwinding bobbin of yarn comprising a bracket, means mounting said bracket for pivotal movement, a spindle carried by said bracket and adapted to be moved axially with respect thereto, a tubular balloon restraining member mounted coaxially of said spindle and adapted to encircle a bobbin carried by said spindle for controlling the balloon generated by a strand of yarn unwinding. from a bobbin carried by said spindle, and means for moving said spindle with respect to said bracket as said bracket is pivoted.

2. A device for holding an unwinding bobbin of yarn as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means for moving said spindle includes a cam surface.

3. A device for holding an unwinding bobbin of yarn as set forth in claim 1 wherein means for removably holding said tubular balloon restraining member is carried by said bracket.

4. A device for holding an unwinding bobbin of yarn as set forth in claim 2 wherein means for removably holding said tubular balloon restraining member is carried by said bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,338,832 Zindel Ian. 11, 1944 2,623,710 Pearson Dec. 30, 1952 2,678,782 Blair L May 18, 1954 2,772,840 Goodhue et a1. Dec. 4, 1956 

